Let's have a pro and con for quality of miles vs quantity of miles in the summer.
QUANTITY:
PRO:
Minimally invasive training mentally and physically.
Lower chance of overtraining.
Prepares for the volume and duration of the school year.
CON:
Missing the middle steps between 6:30-7:30 pace summer miles and 5:00-5:30 pace Fall workouts.
Less effective at developing aerobic capacity.
QUALITY:
PRO:
Makes transitioning to Fall workouts more natural
Allows for bigger workouts in the Fall, and an improved ability to recovery from them.
CON:
Chance of burnout if taken too intensely.
Higher chance of injury.
Obviously neither extreme is correct. Don't run 25 miles a week at 5:45 pace, but don't run 140 miles a week at 8:00. The 2-3 quality days per 8-10 days I was talking about are days with a regular run, maybe 8-10 miles, a few steps faster than the usual 6:45-7:15 clip, working down to 6:00 or so for the last half hour. I really think the benefit is huge of having a run like this every week. They are completely aerobic, the way our tempo runs SHOULD have been over the summer and during the year last year. As I've said to Nick a few times this year, no one should ever DNF a tempo run (which I've stupidly done my fair share of times). If you do, it's not a tempo run. Tempo running is pushing up and improving your aerobic limit, maximum aerobic output, threshold, whatever you want to call it. To do that, we run at or just below that limit. Running just below that limit, we're still completely aerobic, meaning you should never ever feel a drop of lactic acid build up when running "tempo pace." The benefit of this kind of training throughout July and August is better preparation for full on tempo runs and tempo /cruise intervals, which are the 8k paced stuff like 5xmile, 3x2000, 5-8x1200 type workouts, as well as developing your aerobic engine over the course of months and years. Those of us looking toward the marathon in a few years (which is basically all of us based on who's been posting) should be very interested in this. Uptempo running is pretty close to marathon/half marathon pace, which I think Corey mentioned in his post. I think HM pace is the ideal middle ground pace where you can stay minimally invasive, while still increasing the bounds on your maximum aerobic output. OK someone else take over.
That, and running a lot on hills a few times a week. This will be another post once I'm home. We did no hills in September October or November last year, and I think we, or at least I, paid the price by sucking monkey nuts at Mt. Greylock last year.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
I wanna be in Corey's butt
To post my goals, they're almost identical to Corey's. Having consistent QUALITY days 2-3 times a week with either ~10 mile uptempos, 6-8 mile tempos, bounding, intensive core and strength, and plyometrics. Along with a long run.
Here are some of my thoughts about building mileage (maybe 90-110? Mark has the second-to-last say) THROUGH the summer instead of hitting my peak in August like I did last year. Finish the build after Open NE's, maybe as late as NESCACs. I was thinking something like this in terms of % of highest mileage.
Rest of May - basically 0
June - start at 40% build up to 55%, down week into July 4th road race, going for the four-peat. start with nothing but easy jogs. Incorporate a 20-30% long run and 1 uptempo run at "best aerobic effort" (ex. 7 miles at 30-45 seconds slower than current 8k pace, maybe 20-30 slower than any of the in season tempo runs last year, so maybe 6:00?). Begin bounding and dynamic strength stuff. I'll post more about this in a few weeks I think. STRETCH.
July - 55% after the race, build to 70%, then another down week. Every 8-10 days, have 1 long run (~14-16 probably easy), 1 uptempo run (ex 8-9 miles at 6:15 down to 6:00 or whatever), and 1 somewhat short tempo run (4 miles at 5:35-5:45)
August - 70% after down week, build to 85%. Same set up as July, but adding a mile to the tempo every one or 2 weeks, but keeping these very relaxed so that I feel in control all the way to through the finish. I have to remember that summer is the time when we prepare for the work to be done in September and October, not the time when we prepare for the races in September and October. Those are the ones that don't count...
September - Treat September the way I wanted to treat August last year if I hadn't gotten sick going into River to Sea. Keep the tempos and uptempos, stay away from the track, continue to build mileage from 85% to 95%. Down week going into Opens.
October and November - Obviously all of this part is up to Mark and Ethan, but get 2 or 3 more weeks in at peak mileage going into NESCACs, run NESCACs on an up week, then taper a little bit for Regionals. I've been so worn down by NESCACs the last two years that I've had to take a huge taper going into regionals just to get through the warm up and to the line. I shouldn't need to taper all that much if I'm still running well off of aerobic workouts and a fuck-ton of miles in September and October.
"One Percenters"
I don't know where I heard that phrase, but I sort of like it although it sounds retarded. One percenters are the things you do every fucking day, every fucking day, every fucking day that each make you 1% faster. They are:
1) Flexibility/Range of Motion - my hips are so tight that it pulls my core way out of line and robs me of a lot of power and efficiency.
2) Core Strength - See above. Also good for injury prevention.
3) Barefoot running - No more mothertrucking soft tissue foot injuries.
4) Power Development through bounding - Longer strides with the same effort expenditure = much faster running.
5) Recovery (sleep, nutrition, hydration, cross training) - Why work out if you don't refuel and thus recover from and get stronger from the workout?
I gotta run, but I will come back to this post again. Post any questions or comments. Sorry for the inappropriate title.
Here are some of my thoughts about building mileage (maybe 90-110? Mark has the second-to-last say) THROUGH the summer instead of hitting my peak in August like I did last year. Finish the build after Open NE's, maybe as late as NESCACs. I was thinking something like this in terms of % of highest mileage.
Rest of May - basically 0
June - start at 40% build up to 55%, down week into July 4th road race, going for the four-peat. start with nothing but easy jogs. Incorporate a 20-30% long run and 1 uptempo run at "best aerobic effort" (ex. 7 miles at 30-45 seconds slower than current 8k pace, maybe 20-30 slower than any of the in season tempo runs last year, so maybe 6:00?). Begin bounding and dynamic strength stuff. I'll post more about this in a few weeks I think. STRETCH.
July - 55% after the race, build to 70%, then another down week. Every 8-10 days, have 1 long run (~14-16 probably easy), 1 uptempo run (ex 8-9 miles at 6:15 down to 6:00 or whatever), and 1 somewhat short tempo run (4 miles at 5:35-5:45)
August - 70% after down week, build to 85%. Same set up as July, but adding a mile to the tempo every one or 2 weeks, but keeping these very relaxed so that I feel in control all the way to through the finish. I have to remember that summer is the time when we prepare for the work to be done in September and October, not the time when we prepare for the races in September and October. Those are the ones that don't count...
September - Treat September the way I wanted to treat August last year if I hadn't gotten sick going into River to Sea. Keep the tempos and uptempos, stay away from the track, continue to build mileage from 85% to 95%. Down week going into Opens.
October and November - Obviously all of this part is up to Mark and Ethan, but get 2 or 3 more weeks in at peak mileage going into NESCACs, run NESCACs on an up week, then taper a little bit for Regionals. I've been so worn down by NESCACs the last two years that I've had to take a huge taper going into regionals just to get through the warm up and to the line. I shouldn't need to taper all that much if I'm still running well off of aerobic workouts and a fuck-ton of miles in September and October.
"One Percenters"
I don't know where I heard that phrase, but I sort of like it although it sounds retarded. One percenters are the things you do every fucking day, every fucking day, every fucking day that each make you 1% faster. They are:
1) Flexibility/Range of Motion - my hips are so tight that it pulls my core way out of line and robs me of a lot of power and efficiency.
2) Core Strength - See above. Also good for injury prevention.
3) Barefoot running - No more mothertrucking soft tissue foot injuries.
4) Power Development through bounding - Longer strides with the same effort expenditure = much faster running.
5) Recovery (sleep, nutrition, hydration, cross training) - Why work out if you don't refuel and thus recover from and get stronger from the workout?
I gotta run, but I will come back to this post again. Post any questions or comments. Sorry for the inappropriate title.
Goals
I really like Blaney's idea.
Training Goals:
My goal this season is to run at least 1000 miles from the time I move in till september. That works out to be about 85 mile weeks for 3 weeks followed by a down weeks of 55. The plan leaves me with about 30 extra miles to play around with. Within each week, I my goal is to include 2 or 3 of these: an up-tempo, fartlek, tempo or HM paced work with a focus on increasing the time spent at the faster pace. Twice a week my goal is to include hill bounds, plyometrics, explosive med-ball tosses, and general and hamstring strength stuff.
Overall Goals:
Destroy the excuse, "I'm much better at track"
Second 7
I don't know what I want for a time goal yet.
Training Goals:
My goal this season is to run at least 1000 miles from the time I move in till september. That works out to be about 85 mile weeks for 3 weeks followed by a down weeks of 55. The plan leaves me with about 30 extra miles to play around with. Within each week, I my goal is to include 2 or 3 of these: an up-tempo, fartlek, tempo or HM paced work with a focus on increasing the time spent at the faster pace. Twice a week my goal is to include hill bounds, plyometrics, explosive med-ball tosses, and general and hamstring strength stuff.
Overall Goals:
Destroy the excuse, "I'm much better at track"
Second 7
I don't know what I want for a time goal yet.
Team (insert goal here) by cross
Jerzy I think you should probably be worried more about team pass weigh in by cross then 100 pushups. But if you do get to 100 pushups that would probably make you the strongest person on the team. I tried to see how many pushups I could do just now without stopping and I got to 50 and now its hard to type.
I think having goals by cross country is a pretty good idea, seeing as we all have goals while we are in season it makes sense to me to set good goals ( besides not being obese hutch) for the start of cross. In trying to think of what goal to set that would be a good thing many things come to mind weight goals, mileage goals, strength goals, not injured etc... Its hard to say what would be the best. For me any weight goal would be accomplished by running enough so that seems unnecessary. I don't really feel the need to have more then normal upper body strength either. What I really want to do is be able to dunk a basketball by the end of the summer but I feel like that is not really feasible for me. Long story short is I think it would be interesting to see everyones goals for the summer just to see where everyones heads are at and to see different perspectives on summer training.
There are 15 weeks from now to september first which is 105 days.
Just to stick with the 100 number thing my goal:
Run or Crosstrain for 100 out of those 105 days.
There now Jerzy, Hutch and I all have goals lets see some others
Blanes
Monday, May 18, 2009
Starting running again
I just got back from my best run of the summer- a 9 mile jog around Brookline with some former teammates. I'm finally starting to remember how to run. The first week back running is always horrible for me; my legs ache, my breathing is heavy, and I have to battle to not get passed by middle-aged hobby runners. It's amazing to me that in a month I'll be running 3 times as much as I did last week, and I'll mostly likely feel better doing it.
On another note, like Hutch, I'm also hopping on a train this summer- Train 100 by Cross. However, it's not the 100 Pounds by Cross Train (I'm shooting for 85- only 7 pretzels and 3 peanut butter crackers per day), it's the 100 Pushups in a Row by the First Day of Practice Train. Can I do it?
p.s. I know it probably doesn't help with running
On another note, like Hutch, I'm also hopping on a train this summer- Train 100 by Cross. However, it's not the 100 Pounds by Cross Train (I'm shooting for 85- only 7 pretzels and 3 peanut butter crackers per day), it's the 100 Pushups in a Row by the First Day of Practice Train. Can I do it?
p.s. I know it probably doesn't help with running
maine is a great state
except for those times when it turns out its actually really boring...shiiiit
anyway summers off to a pretty slow start. last week was my first one back running since nescacs and it was a pretty shitty week. didn't hit a ton of miles or run all that fast but hey i figure it'll come. i think i jumped the gun a bit too much the first few days. i was pretending i was in the same shape i was at the end of track. after a few days of that, every muscle in my legs hurt, nothing that a few easy days wouldn't solve though. by the end of the week i felt like i was starting to hit stride a bit. theres still a long ways to go. luckily there arent any races that matter for a while. except for may 25th. where i have to break 5 for a mile. so i can win a pie. because pie is what i need to get on train 165-by-cross. sorry if this rambles but its 2am in maine. and i'vebeaten the entire state in NBA live 08. and the cops wont let us play wiffleball in the scvhool parking lot tonight. and letsrun sucks tonight. and sleep is overrated.
sparknotes: contrary to (popular?) belief maine isnt all its cracked up to be. i'm not in very good shape after 2 weeks off but need to run a 5 minute mile so i can win a pie.
anyway summers off to a pretty slow start. last week was my first one back running since nescacs and it was a pretty shitty week. didn't hit a ton of miles or run all that fast but hey i figure it'll come. i think i jumped the gun a bit too much the first few days. i was pretending i was in the same shape i was at the end of track. after a few days of that, every muscle in my legs hurt, nothing that a few easy days wouldn't solve though. by the end of the week i felt like i was starting to hit stride a bit. theres still a long ways to go. luckily there arent any races that matter for a while. except for may 25th. where i have to break 5 for a mile. so i can win a pie. because pie is what i need to get on train 165-by-cross. sorry if this rambles but its 2am in maine. and i'vebeaten the entire state in NBA live 08. and the cops wont let us play wiffleball in the scvhool parking lot tonight. and letsrun sucks tonight. and sleep is overrated.
sparknotes: contrary to (popular?) belief maine isnt all its cracked up to be. i'm not in very good shape after 2 weeks off but need to run a 5 minute mile so i can win a pie.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
La vie quotidienne a Talloires
So I missed out on this last year but it will be nice to have another distraction from work this summer. However, as I am in Talloires right now I may actually have some interesting stuff to post.
As far as training goes, which is I guess what this thing is supposed to be for I am finally overcoming set backs from basketball injuries and sickness only to find out that I left my running shoes at home. I have my racing flats though! Anyway after my last final I thought I had tonsillitis so I went to health services and they checked me out saying I probably didn't have mono or strep and so they gave me some penicillin variant drug. Turns out I'm allergic to it now though I haven't been in the past. So for the past week ending yesterday pretty much I had a full body rash in addition to a swollen throat. My doctor at home assumed that I have mono but I found out today that I don't.
As for now, Talloires is amazing. Everything is situated right next to Lake Annecy so the views are beautiful. Pretty much all I eat is ham and cheese and little chocolate cookies. My French sucks but its getting better. The only bad part is that I am now taking classes again. Only 2 of them but they are long and I just want to go outside.
So long story short, enjoy being outside and not in class or work while you can, I'm gonna go get some running shoes and I'll post again with something actually relevant to the blog.
Keep up the good work ladies.
As far as training goes, which is I guess what this thing is supposed to be for I am finally overcoming set backs from basketball injuries and sickness only to find out that I left my running shoes at home. I have my racing flats though! Anyway after my last final I thought I had tonsillitis so I went to health services and they checked me out saying I probably didn't have mono or strep and so they gave me some penicillin variant drug. Turns out I'm allergic to it now though I haven't been in the past. So for the past week ending yesterday pretty much I had a full body rash in addition to a swollen throat. My doctor at home assumed that I have mono but I found out today that I don't.
As for now, Talloires is amazing. Everything is situated right next to Lake Annecy so the views are beautiful. Pretty much all I eat is ham and cheese and little chocolate cookies. My French sucks but its getting better. The only bad part is that I am now taking classes again. Only 2 of them but they are long and I just want to go outside.
So long story short, enjoy being outside and not in class or work while you can, I'm gonna go get some running shoes and I'll post again with something actually relevant to the blog.
Keep up the good work ladies.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
My Training So Far
This summer is the first summer I have really gotten into running mileage. In high school, I would not run an inch all summer, go to running camp the week before practice started, run 60 miles in six days, and be ready to go. Last summer I ran about 50-60 mpw, but took days off every week due to procrastinating (or I would go out with my friends and come home at 2am and struggle through a short run). This summer I have realized that getting out the door everyday at a set time is the best solution. Sitting at my house all day, procrastinating, only makes things worse. I start to hate the fact that I have to go run, and get psyched out. Once I get out the door, however, I realize why I like to run, and am happy to get it over with.
So far, my training has been going great. At the beginning of the summer, I went to Europe with a few of my high school buddies, and as a result did not run as much as I should have. Since then, I have been steadily building mileage, and I hope to get into the mid 80s if all goes well and I'm feeling good (though I desperately need to take a down week next week).
Workouts so far have gotten better and better. 2 weeks ago was my first tempo (two tuesdays ago). As mentioned before, I did it with Jragz, Brunx, and Jesse. The first 3 miles were completed in around 17:55, and though aerobically I felt perfectly relaxed, my legs were not used to running at the faster pace (though it was barely sub 6 pace). I felt pretty awful at this point of the tempo. During the next 2 miles, we overcompensated, and Brunx and I ended up going 10:50ish for the last 2 (we meant to go 11:20), for a 28:45 total time. What's funny is that the 5:25 pace felt just as easy as the 6:00 pace. Since getting the daunting first tempo out of the way, I have made an effort to do more strides, after realizing that my tempo felt difficult due to poor turnover.
This past Thursday, I went to Franklin Park (for those of you who don't know, it is an 8k course that we race every year) to do another tempo run. The day was hot and I felt tired, so I didn't expect much of myself. I purposely stayed relaxed the first mile, and was surprised to look down at my watch and see 5:40. I was surprise again at 2 miles which I hit in 11:22, despite tackling some significant hills. I went through 5k in 17:30, still feeling very relaxed and in control. Though I don't konw the 4 mile marker, I completed the 8k/5 mile course in 27:27. I recovered within a couple minutes, but the result was both exciting and worrysome. It made me wonder if I am hammering too hard too early during the summer, and risking burnout. Hopefully not, for I did not push myself much harder than I normally would on a tempo run.
p.s. Greg, Paul Norton acknowledges you as his rival, and Gihan Amirsersfsdsdeededena angrily remembers when I outkicked him high school
So far, my training has been going great. At the beginning of the summer, I went to Europe with a few of my high school buddies, and as a result did not run as much as I should have. Since then, I have been steadily building mileage, and I hope to get into the mid 80s if all goes well and I'm feeling good (though I desperately need to take a down week next week).
Workouts so far have gotten better and better. 2 weeks ago was my first tempo (two tuesdays ago). As mentioned before, I did it with Jragz, Brunx, and Jesse. The first 3 miles were completed in around 17:55, and though aerobically I felt perfectly relaxed, my legs were not used to running at the faster pace (though it was barely sub 6 pace). I felt pretty awful at this point of the tempo. During the next 2 miles, we overcompensated, and Brunx and I ended up going 10:50ish for the last 2 (we meant to go 11:20), for a 28:45 total time. What's funny is that the 5:25 pace felt just as easy as the 6:00 pace. Since getting the daunting first tempo out of the way, I have made an effort to do more strides, after realizing that my tempo felt difficult due to poor turnover.
This past Thursday, I went to Franklin Park (for those of you who don't know, it is an 8k course that we race every year) to do another tempo run. The day was hot and I felt tired, so I didn't expect much of myself. I purposely stayed relaxed the first mile, and was surprised to look down at my watch and see 5:40. I was surprise again at 2 miles which I hit in 11:22, despite tackling some significant hills. I went through 5k in 17:30, still feeling very relaxed and in control. Though I don't konw the 4 mile marker, I completed the 8k/5 mile course in 27:27. I recovered within a couple minutes, but the result was both exciting and worrysome. It made me wonder if I am hammering too hard too early during the summer, and risking burnout. Hopefully not, for I did not push myself much harder than I normally would on a tempo run.
p.s. Greg, Paul Norton acknowledges you as his rival, and Gihan Amirsersfsdsdeededena angrily remembers when I outkicked him high school
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